Daisy
by Dixie Dewdrop
Summary: A teenaged Tony takes it upon himself to make life better for someone else. This is part of my Fate scenario.
1. Wallflower

Wallflower

The display of gorgeous weather cast a cheerful air upon the high school students lined up to board their schoolbus for the trip home.

They clambered aboard chattering and laughing, and greeted their regular driver, Mr. Amos, with affection. All of the teens lived within the same three block radius, and had known each other for years. Most had attended elementary and middle school together, and had shared toys, secrets, teachers, and classes over the years.

Tony almost missed his ride, so intent was he upon persuading his newest girlfriend, a petite blond named Buffy, to sit by him in their math class the next day. She finally agreed, however, giggling that if they got into trouble at school, she would suffer consequences at home.

With long eyelashes framing green eyes and brown hair sprinkled with sun bleached blond, Tony's looks made him stand out from others, and resisting Tony's arguments proved hard.

"Look, Buffy, I certainly have it in my best interests not to have the school call my dad about my behavior. All I want us to do is sit beside each other. I never said we would kiss, or hug, or pass notes during class, did I?" With a beautiful grin he appealed to her logic, and she leaned up and patted his cheek.

"Ok, Tony, but remember that you have to stay on your best behavior- no touching or anything of that nature."

"Got it, Girl!" he replied quickly, his green eyes shining with excitement. "Let me assure you that you will love having me as your closest classmate."

With a quick kiss to her cheek he turned and jogged to the bus, leaving Buffy giggling at his departure.

Tony brushed back his bangs as he ran, then climbed onto the schoolbus. The driver smiled at him as he passed, having a soft spot for the gregarious ninth grader. The freshman possessed wit, intellect, and personality plus, and Mr. Amos and Tony had engaged in numerous philosophical conversations over the course of the school year.

"I think it's about time you got here," Mr. Amos observed. "You almost had yourself a walk home."

Tony grinned. "Awww, Mr. Amos, you know you would miss my delightful self if you pulled off from the school without me!"

The teen reached over and patted the driver's shoulder, then quickly started down the aisle to his seat. His group of friends had laid claim to the coveted seats in the very back of the bus, and they had protected the territory the entire school year.

Midway down the aisle Tony paused, though, and regarded Daisy Sandler, a young lady born with Down's Syndrome whom he had protected and included in his clique over the years. Despite the fact that her head and gaze focused upon the window, he could see she appeared upset.

Signaling his friends that he would join them later, he flopped down beside Daisy and threw his arm around her, turning her to face him.

Tears beaded her lashes, and Tony wiped them away with his hands, genuinely concerned about her. "Daisy Baby, what has made you so sad?"

Mr. Amos pulled out of the school's bus pad and into traffic.

Daisy watched the scenery a few seconds before she slid to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

Tony rubbed the side of her arm and whispered, "If you will not tell me the problem, it will mean you think I do not matter to you. Do you feel that way?" He grinned to himself at that observation, knowing from experience the response he would get.

Upset that he would think she did not care, she pulled away and faced him, "No, Tony, no- Daisy feels sad now but Daisy loves Tony always."

"Ok," he agreed, "then tell me what made you cry."

Glancing out the window as the bus passed a grocery store, Daisy smoothed her skirt over her knees. "Daisy is a junior. Daisy goes to eleventh grade."

Tony nodded, and raised his eyebrows to show he wanted her to continue.

She did. "Daisy can go to the dance now this year."

Understanding dawned on the young man. "You mean the Junior Senior prom, and only upperclassmen can attend."

"Yes," she nodded. "Daisy wants to go. Daisy wants to buy a pretty dress with ruffles and fix Daisy's hair."

"So what is the problem?" Tony prodded.

"Daisy loves somebody," she confessed.

The teen took several seconds before he responded. Having known Daisy as long as he had, he genuinely wanted to help.

"Hey," Tony urged, "tell me the name of that somebody, the somebody you love."

"This person," she explained, pulling a photograph out if her notebook and pointing. "Daisy likes this person."

Tony scrutinized the picture, a shot of one of the school's art rooms. A handful of students stood in front of a bulletin board which proclaimed "We are the Future" and held a large banner which added, "The Future is Now." Daisy stood next to a student Tony had seen in the halls, a young man who, like Daisy, had Down's.

Tony looked up and caught her glance. "Does he have a name, or should I just call him Bobo?" Tony grinned

Daisy giggled. "That is not his name, Tony! He is not Bobo! His name is Mark Jonas."

"I like Bobo for him," Tony teased, pleased to see Daisy still smiling. "Since you insist that I call him by his real name, though, I will obey. I always do what my Daisy Baby wants me to do."

Regarding her shrewdly he ventured, his voice soft and comforting, "So I believe the problem may lie in the fact that you want to attend the junior senior prom with him."

Tucking strands of hair behind both ears, she nodded emphatically, "Yes, Tony, and Daisy wants him for her boyfriend. Daisy likes him."

"Is he going to attend?" Tony pursed his lips and interlaced his fingers behind his head.

Daisy shook her head affirmatively, but tears filled her eyes. "He will go and Daisy will go. Daisy wants him to stay with her."

Tony regarded her sad expression. "Did he ask you to the dance, Daisy? Did he say anything about the two of you going to the prom together at all?"

"No," she admitted, turning to look out the window.

Tony placed his hand on the side of her face and turned her to face him. "Did he ask anyone else to go with him, another student from our school?"

She shook her head no.

Tony absorbed the information before responding. "The prom is next weekend, right?" he clarified.

A single tear slid down her cheek, confirming his guess. Tony licked his lips, then sat up straight and leaned close to her to whisper, "Daisy Baby, leave this to me. I want to check on something, and then I will talk to you again. Do not worry, though, 'cause you know you can depend on me."

Daisy smiled slowly. "I know that, Tony. Tony always looks out for Daisy."

The teen stood then, brushed her hair away from her face, and gripped the back of the seat for balance. He winked at her before he worked his way down the bus aisle to his usual spot.

Ten minutes later Tony and his best friend, Dylan, disembarked, calling their good byes to each other as they neared their own homes.

Throwing open the front door with a flourish, Tony imitated a basketball player, feinting a throw and then tossing his bookbag towards the kitchen, narrating the activity in the voice of a sports announcer. It landed with a thud against the side of a cabinet and crashed against the spray nozzle of the sink before sliding in the floor.

He jogged over to investigate the damage, and saw that the grip on the handle had broken in two from the blow. Squinting, he breathed a sigh of relief when he found it still attached- broken, but still attached.

His dad would certainly try to piece together a cause for the nozzle's destruction.

Grabbing a banana and yanking the bookbag by its straps, he headed upstairs to his room, where he spread his textbooks across the bed and began his homework at his desk. Few activities buttered up his dad more than finding Tony had completed all of his homework without prodding, and in case he hit the roof over the sprayer, discovering Tony had taken the initiative on his school assignments would disarm him somewhat.

Sure enough, when Special Agent Jethro Gibbs arrived an hour and a half later it was to find his son sprawled on the living room sofa, engrossed in a biography.

Tony greeted him affectionately, jumping up to grab his father into a hug. Still small for his age he had to stand on tiptoe to throw his arms around the agent's neck. "Glad you got home early, Dad," he exclaimed.

Gibbs hugged him back, and softly brushed Tony's bangs out of his eyes. "Thank you, Son."

"FYI, Dad- that means for your information, your brilliant son knocked out his homework already, and of course that means without having you tell me to go do it."

"Did you?" his father replied with suspicion, setting the car keys down on the foyer table.

"Yes sir, I did. In fact, I stacked it right here for you to peruse at your leisure." Tony batted his eyes and smiled at his father.

Jethro grinned. "Quite the charmer tonight, I see, Son. Let me tell you that I am pleased you got to work without having me force you to start. Not coming home and doing what needs to be done always leads to trouble for you."

"Right, Dad, and I even began my science project this afternoon and it will not be due until next month."

Gibbs opened his mouth to say something and then abruptly changed his mind. He turned and moved to the kitchen instead, intent upon tackling supper preparations.

Tony followed closely behind him into the kitchen and waited patiently for Jethro to prepare a fresh pot of coffee.

He could bide his time before he approached his father for a favor.


	2. Miss Popularity

Miss Popularity

The NCIS agent slid the battered carafe off of the burner and set it down in the sink to fill with water. Grabbing the sprayer, he turned loose in surprise as the hand grip fell into the drain.

"What in the world happened here?" Gibbs questioned in confusion. "The whole grip just disintegrated from the hose!"

Tony leaned over his dad to gain a better look. "Ooh, I see it did, Dad. Wow! It looks broken all right. Evidently it has lived out the last of its life with our wear and tear."

Glancing at his father he saw the man nod in agreement as he used the faucet as the substitute for the sprayer.

His dad did not suspect his guilt.

Jethro shook his head and regarded the hose again. "I guess I can replace it sometime this weekend. I needed to get to the hardware store anyway."

Generously Tony cautioned, "We can do without it for longer, Dad. Maybe you should just rest and relax this weekend." Then he added hopefully, "Could we order a pizza tonight?"

Jethro nixed that idea, and ordered Tony to wash his hands and help with the preparations for supper.

Later, as they ate, Tony described his talk with Daisy and shared the details of Daisy's upset with his father.

Regarding him speculatively as he bit into a buttery roll, Jethro prodded, "Why did you tell me this, Son?"

Tony sighed and leaned back in his chair. Answering his father, he spoke with a degree of uncertainty. "Dad, I think I can help make part of it up to Daisy. I may not be the guy she likes or wants for a date, this Mark Jonas, but I can certainly go with her to the dance so that she can enjoy it."

Gibbs nodded thoughtfully. "You want her to have the opportunity to dress up and have some fun, right?"

"I do, yes, Dad. You know how many years we have known Daisy, and she deserves to have events in her life so spectacular that she will remember them for the rest of her whole life."

Standing suddenly, Jethro crossed around the table and kissed the top of his son's head. "I can not tell you how proud you make me, Son."

Tony leaned his head back and regarded his father from that angle. Grinning, he explained, "Well, I wanted to run that by you, Dad, 'cause you will act as chauffeur the night of the prom. You know I need you to make this work for me."

Gibbs squeezed him on the shoulder and began to clear the table. The house phone's insistent ring shrilled and Tony nearly knocked his chair over running to answer it.

His father shook his head in resignation. Tony's abuela, his grandmother, called every few days to check on her boy. Now permanently living in Mexico, the family got together during school breaks and vacations. Between times, she kept up with Tony via phone or letter.

Hauling the dishes to the sink Jethro regarded the sprayer's broken grip. He rinsed the crockery under the faucet instead.

Gibbs cleaned the kitchen, thoughtfully, though doing so was his son's responsibility. Taking care of Tony's chores as he listened to the murmur of his son's voice from a room away, he processed the earlier conversation about Daisy.

His son made him proud.

The next morning again dawned sunny and bright, and Tony climbed aboard the bus and greeted Mr. Amos before throwing himself down in the seat beside Daisy.

She patted his arm. "Tony does not sit here in this seat. Daisy sits here. Tony sits in the back."

He grinned at her, his green eyes sparkling and highlighting his smile. "Got it, Daisy Baby, but I just need a couple of minutes to talk to you about something important."

She waited expectantly for him to elaborate.

"You need to invite me to the prom," he explained, emphasizing each word by stabbing the seat cushion with his forefinger.

"Well, Daisy wants to go to the prom," she assured him, not certain of his point.

"Yes, I know you do, Honey. You are the high school junior, though, and I am not. So, Daisy, you have to take the initiative and invite me to attend."

Daisy raised her eyebrows. "Tony wants to go to the prom dance? Tony is not in the eleventh grade."

"I do, yes, and I want to go with you. Is that all right?"

She regarded him with comprehension. "Daisy will wear a pretty dress and Tony will look handsome."

He patted her cheek, winked, and slid out of the seat. She watched his progress down the aisle before turning back to gazing out the window.

That afternoon mirrored the afternoon before, except that Tony congratulated Buffy on her choice of seating in their shared class.

He jogged up the bus steps and greeted Mr. Amos before waving to his friends at the back of the bus.

Daisy patted the seat beside her as he neared. "Come sit with Daisy, Tony. Daisy wants Tony to come here."

Without hesitating he slid onto the seat and beside her. "What is on your mind, Daisy Baby?"

She looked concerned and a bit unsure how to proceed.

Tony smiled encouraging. "Are you sorry that you asked me to the prom? Are you worried that I will not be as pretty as you will be? Did you decide to dump me?"

"No," she assured him, then contradicted herself, "yes, Tony can not go with Daisy to the prom now."

Surprised, he studied her a second before he attempted to understand her decision. "Did you find someone more adorable than I to escort you?"

She patted his leg soothingly. "Mark will go with Daisy. Tony will not go."

Realization dawned, and Tony nodded. "I see, so now Bobo has decided to ask you to the prom? Hmmm?"

"His name is Mark, not Bobo," she giggled, and Tony smiled at the happiness radiating from her.

He suddenly turned serious. "How do you know Bobo will take you?" he questioned.

"Mark heard Daisy tell her friends Tony will take Daisy to the dance. Mark said he wanted to take Daisy because he asked his mom and she said yes. She will go to Daisy's house and pick up Daisy and Daisy will go with Mark to that prom."

Tony understood and put Mark's tardy invitation into perspective. "So, Bobo planned to ask you all along, Daisy Baby, but needed to check with his mom to see if she would drive you two."

His friend beamed in reply, but suddenly looked worried. "Tony will be mad at Daisy now. Daisy hurt Tony's feelings."

The teen grabbed her to him and hugged her, then whispered softly. "Hush saying things like that, Girl. You know that I care about you and will always protect you, no matter what happens. You go to that dance with Bobo and have a fantastic time, and that will make me very happy."

Kissing her on the cheek, he slid off of the seat and winked before he joined his friends at the back of the bus.

Watching him go, Daisy recalled an incident years before where Tony had punched a boy who picked on her. Thinking about his steadfast security, she announced reassuringly to no one in particular, "Tony always protects Daisy, and Tony does not let Daisy get hurt. Tony will watch out for Daisy."


End file.
